Ranking Member Takano Demands More Oversight into Corporate Healthcare Companies Profiting from Veterans
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WASHINGTON – The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a hearing today entitled "Restoring Focus: Putting Veterans First in Community Care.” Despite being the first hearing about community care since Republicans took control of Congress over two years ago, no government officials or contractors were present to answer questions about problems veterans have experienced when accessing care.
Ranking Member Takano said, “I want to say to our witnesses that I am truly anguished by the unacceptable delays you or your veteran loved ones have faced in getting the care you needed, when you needed it. Your experiences are deeply troubling, and I have many questions about how things went so wrong.
Republicans are insistent that they don’t want to 'privatize' VA, but they complain about the money that VA is spending on healthcare services. Where do my colleagues think the money to pay private healthcare providers is coming from? It is the same pot of money, and we need to address how private care is siphoning off funding from VA direct care.
Community care and VA direct care were designed to complement each other, not compete. Our fundamental responsibility is ensuring veterans receive timely, high-quality healthcare while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
Background:More than 40 percentof veterans’healthcare is being delivered through the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) community care network contracts with TriWest Healthcare Alliance and UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Serve Federal Services. Although it is important to seek answers from VA officials, these contractors are receiving tens of billions of taxpayer dollars, with little oversight of the quality of healthcare servicestheir network providers are delivering to veterans. UnitedHealth Group, which holds $72 billion worth of VA contracts, declined to participatein today’s hearing.
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